Remember that one time I BUILT A COMPUTER? – Part 2

This is part 2. If you want to read part 1 (and gawk over what I put in my computer case), you have to go over here. It looks like there will be a part 3 too, because computer building is so epic that the chronicles of it need to be turned into a trilogy.

When I left off last time, my computer parts had just come, and I gently laid them out under my Christmas tree for picture taking. Results of picture taking are in the last post, so I’ll move onto the next step.

To keep you visual types interested, here's a picture with bonus blue light and wires.

The Giant, Electric 3-D Puzzle

Like I said a bunch of times, putting together computer parts is the easiest part of the process. Short story short, it goes like this:

1- Plop in the PSU (I think that stands for Power Supply Unit. It’s the box with wires)
2- Use a screwdriver.
3- Put the CPU (that’s Central Processing Unit) on the motherboard.
4- Use a screwdriver.
5- Plug the CPU fan into the motherboard where it says “CPU FAN PLUG HERE!!!!!”
6- Stick the RAM sticks in the RAM holes.
7- Put the motherboard in the case.
8- Use a screwdriver.
9- Spend 10 minutes trying to figure out what an “extension card” is.
10- By process of elimination, decide that an “extension card” is your graphics card.
11- Stick the graphics card in the graphics card hole.
12- Use a screwdriver.
13- Plug the green wires into the green holes.
14- Plug the black wires into the black holes.
15- Plug the red wires into the red holes.
16- Wonder how colour blind people plug in their computer wires.
17- Plug the PSU wires in the holes marked “PSU WIRES HERE!!!”

I got to screw a lot of things and that made me happy.

After all that, you put the sides of your case on, turn on the power supply, plug the computer cord into the wall, press the “on” button and pray.

See? Easysauce!

Whenever I got stuck, I’d ask on Twitter. Twitter is a wonderful resource because it’s full of people who know a lot about computers. But beware, like any kind of passionate person, they may give you more than what you ask for:

Me: Does the green wires go in green hole 1 or green hole 2?Knowledgeable person: The green wires are essential components to front panel functioning and there are several sorts of green wires. Each will be connected to a different socket and will wrap around the motherboard in a predetermined fashion. Certain green wires will merge with yellow wires to ensure proper airflow within the case. The colour of the green wire was inspired by-Me: GREEN HOLE 1 OR GREEN HOLE 2?

(I used a completely nonsensical example here because I really appreciate those who went out of their way to explain things to me. I just found it very humourous how I was receiving very complex and complete answers while I was being impatient as heck.)

But for the most part, it was smooth, and whatever questions I had, I received answers to quickly.

Then there is the hands thing. A few friends warned me about how static ruins your parts and sometimes you don’t even know you’re staticky.

Not wanting to zap my parts, I made sure I touched a lot of metallic objects and I stopped myself whenever I caught my feet rubbing against the floor. I didn’t have an anti-static mat, so I used the anti-static bags my parts came in. I took all the precautions I could….only to catch myself frequently touching things I shouldn’t. If it looks fragile and easily broken, you can be sure I got my grimy fingers all over it.

But luckily and thankfully, when I hit that “on” button, the clouds parted, the angels smiled on me and everything powered up.

And that ends the easy part! Stay tuned for part 3, where you’ll all become acquainted with the Neurotic Pally and the Evil Windows.

20 Comments on “Remember that one time I BUILT A COMPUTER? – Part 2”

Sometimes it happens that an easy green quest is immediately followed by an burning orange quest and you weren’t ready for the change. You’re just moving along, slaying mobs by instinct when suddenly you’re in the graveyard, wondering what the ‘ell?

Or maybe it’s a small bit of karmic balance, where all that screwing you did to the machine snaps back to screw you?

While building one machine, we were careful about static, but hadn’t noticed we were working up a sweat. One drop fell off a forehead and we could *hear* the *snap,crackle,pop* before things went dark…

You were most fortunate to get a case that CAME with a manual! I usually end up having to fiddle around with things before I figure out what all the bits and bobs left over are for. And those front panel wires? /shudder Never a fun enterprise.

But Zalman makes quality – albeit somewhat pricey – stuff, and go that extra quarter mile to print a manual in at least one language that is not Chinese. You chose … wisely. :)

Haha! Well, cases are a *visual* decision on the surface! People give me a hard time over that, but it’s the closest to bling I will ever get as a geek, so I do consider looks as a major factor. A window is a must as I get happy with the UV paint, as well.

If you want to see a striking case, look up the “lanboy air” on NewEgg. If they still make it by the time I get the money saved up, that’s my next case. /swoon

The less notable case companies will barely provide a bit of paper, usually. Full on manuals are a rare thing, and even then – often they’re rubbish!

But a motherboard without a manual … if you see one, just run, and don’t look back.

I’m really happy with my case! I didn’t want to splurge on the case too much since I’m mostly interested in making my games run and putting my money to practical use, but I still wanted something that I could look at and think “fuck yeah that’s my computer!”. The Zalman ended up being a good choice. At 60$, it was affordable, but it still looks very nice, and has a lot of fans.

And now I’m discovering that the fact that it came with a (good) manual makes it ever more awesome.

Wow! I’m very impresssed! No, not because you are a woman; women can do anything men can do (and the things we can’t do due to physical differences, well, we don’t want to do those things anyway, mkay!). Rather, as someone who has no clue, you went out and did it, and that is what is so great.

When my graphics card on my pc blew up, I decided to fit the new one myself. I didn’t ask my brother who is a computer wizzkid, I didn’t ask my boyfriend (as he had no idea anyway, duh), no I did it myself. I did get stuck, though. There was 1 socket on my graphic card, but I had 2 spare wires floating around. Which one was I supposed to use?
In the end I had to ring the manufacturer up, but still, I was quite proud of myself.
I’m still not sure I would have the confidence to choose all the different bits myself, though. Knowing me, I would put it all together, press the on switch, and absolutely nothing would happen. If I was provided with them all, then yes, I could do it, I’m sure.

I was really shocked that it all worked on the first try. I thought for sure that I had done at least SOMETHING wrong. But I guess the instructions that came with the parts were pretty good.

I wouldn’t have known what to with the extra wires from my graphic card either. The graphic card didn’t come with any useful instructions at all! It was my motherboard manual that gave it away with “the extension card may require additional connections to the power supply”. Even with that, I had to take a guess as to where to plug them in. I got lucky!

As for choosing the bits, I got a lot of help from my friend. I would have been completely overwhelmed on my own since parts names are just random mumbo-jumbo. I know that asking for help isn’t QUITE as honorable as going out of your way to do it all on your own, but I found I really benefited from having someone answer my questions and offer insight into my dilemmas.

Congrats! I’ve built a few machiens myself and can say I know the rush that comes when you’ve assembled everything and the things powers up! AND the frustration when it doesn’t. Those DAMN power swtich case wires are maddening!

Building machines have that satisfaction of “I did it myself!” that you can’t really get anywhere else.

The one note of caution that I’d have for you is to not be shocked when your homebuilt PC loses value just as quickly as a car does. When I last built a PC with top of the line components, it was a middle-of-the-pack PC within a year and a half. Ever since then, I’ve just aimed for value per price over pure performance.

Of course, the bright side of doing it yourself is that you can replace the components on an as-needed basis. Like, say, adding a solid state drive to contain your OS and speed up loading…

Hehe. I have to admit, she was very, very good at making sure she picked parts with good value per dollar. In most cases, it was the people Twitter and the like that twisted her arm to splurge. I, alone, couldn’t convince her to upgrade her GPU, but the Internet had my back!

GPU… Does that have something to do with the graphics card?XD I’m unfamiliar with a lot of the lingo!

Money and I usually get along pretty well. I’m pretty good with numbers and predictions. When I was a teenager, my friends’ parents used to sneak sex ed books into their rooms. My parents snuck money management books into mine. And well. Result is that I’ve been single most of my adult life, but I’m great at making financially conscious decisions.

I wish I had your friends’ parents, since I got a lot of what I know from watching The Movie Channel and Cinemax back in the 80s.

You guessed right about the GPU. Of course, a good graphics card will only get you so far, because if you upgrade your graphics card to a really high level you’ll find out that your choke point is now in the motherboard/CPU/RAM/disk drive.

It’s ok, I don’t plan on selling my pc (or my car, for that matter). I did my best to select parts that wouldn’t be totally outdated in a couple of months and that weren’t crazy expensive either. Having been a pc gamer most of my life, I’m pretty familiar with the speed of technology changes. I do plan on taking off overseas once my work contract is up (in a bit under 2 years), and I don’t expect my computer to still handle state-of-the-art games once I get back.

Actually, I am considering donating it to charity when I go. I worked with children with autism for years, and I always found it a shame that those kids benefit from computers so much, yet most of the time, their families just can’t afford that luxury.

I was there while it was happening (well, part of it)! It’s like being in the delivery room, right?

I work with computers and do know how to put one together, but I honestly don’t remember the last time I actually did one from the beginning. I don’t do it anymore because of no reasonable infrastructure required and it makes me go into mad sweat mode. It’s something I don’t mind paying others to do.

It’s a very good exercise in superation to build a computer, not as woman, but as computer ‘layman’.

Yep, I think anyone who’s computer shy should give it a try. For us Westerners, technology and computers are an integral part of our lives. I never thought that knowing HOW it all worked was important, but now that I’ve played with my parts, I do feel different. The world just makes more SENSE.